Burkina Faso

Burkina Faso is one of the poorest countries in the world. Over 70% of the population is living on less than $2 a day. Many key development indicators are falling behind, even in relation to the average for Africa, and progress is hampered by high population growth.
Food security is a serious problem in Burkina Faso, which suffers from chronic deficits in food production. The competition over increasingly scarce water and land resources has led to more frequent local conflicts. The large number of small arms in the region further fuel banditry and killings. Culturally, the society is male dominated with huge gender inequalities and disparities. On the positive side, an active and dynamic civil society is emerging and under the new decentralized frameworks civil society becomes instrumental in influencing policies.
ACORD works also specifically with pastoralists and agro pastoralists in the semi-arid areas in Burkina Faso, as they have consistently been marginalised in sub-regional and national policy frameworks, that tend to favour the sedentary communities. There is an evident lack of investment in basic services adapted to the pastoralist, nomadic way of living. Their movement across countries threatens their recognition as citizens with rights to public services.

Areas of focus

ACORD has been working in Burkina Faso since 1983. We seek to strengthen rural civil society organisations, to contribute to the promotion of food sovereignty, advocating for policies and legislation that are favourable to the promotion of the fundamental rights of rural communities as well as pastoral and agro-pastoral communities and leading to improvement in their livelihoods. ACORD also works at the West Africa regional level to influence pro-pastoralist policies.

>> Food sovereignty: ACORD in Burkina Faso is strengthening marginalised farmers to defend their rights to food and to contribute to food sovereignty at national level. Capacity building and advocacy are at the heart of this programme and we work in alliance with local and regional partners to improve agricultural policies and their implementation in key areas such as intensification of agro-pastoral activities and access to land. At regional level, ACORD engages with local communities and regional key stakeholders such as ECOWAS and ROPPA (Network of farmers' and agricultural producers' organisations of West Africa).

>> Pastoralism: ACORD has been working with 2,000 pastoralist households and 50 pastoralist organisations to improve their living condition, defend their rights as citizens, and build their capacities in terms of advocacy, literacy, income generation, conflict management and marketing of their production. In particular, ACORD has supported the consolidation of the dairy industry for pastoralist women.

>> HIV & AIDS: ACORD has facilitated the formation and strengthening of People living with HIV & AIDS networks, engaged with religious leaders to deepen their understanding of PLHIV rights and the positive role they can play in creating a stigma free environment, mobilised the media houses to allocate space and air time for PLHIV to advocate for their rights and facilitated Burkinabe PLHIV networks to participate in national and regional fora for lobbying and advocacy. ACORD has also supported the development of statutory and regulatory texts for community based organisations based in pastoral areas.

>>Women`s rights: ACORD is supporting rural women of Burkina Faso by strenghtening women organisations (farmers and pastoralists) who play a key role in the local economy. This support enable them to improve their livelihood but also advocate for their rights (land, resources...) and for a better participation and inclusion in local and national development committees.

Where we work in Burkina Faso

Our coordination office is based in Ougadougou and our programmes are located in the Est, Sahel, Centre Est and Centre Sud regions of Burkina Faso.

Communities in Burkina Faso tell their stories

"Literacy is a treasure that nobody can take away from me, unlike a gift, a dress or goods" declared Awa Barry, a woman from Peul tribe in the village of Lèna who is president of a women's group that is responsible for the dairy of Kofila.

She explained that previously when one of her seven children was ill she used to have to take all the children's health books with her to the clinic and the nurse would pick out the book she needed.

"Today, I no longer need anyone to tell me which is the book of the sick child." said Awa. "Thanks to literacy, I participate now in various meetings in my community and I no longer hesitate to speak in the presence of men."

Hope and Life. Access to ARVs in a community context. Rural-urban experiences in Burkina Faso. The study found that there is potential for improving ARV treatment and care-related services through greater community involvement, changes in pricing policies, nutritional and dietary support and through better integration of gender and youth issues.english | français

Marching toward social justice in West Africa (DVD, 2011). Find out how marginalised and too often excluded communities in West Africa organize themselves and work towards upholding their fundamental rights, in particular their Right to Food.english | français

Photos and videos of ACORD's work in Burkina Faso can be sent upon request. Contact us by e-mail.

How you can support communities in Burkina Faso

Financial donations and in-kind support to our programmes in Burkina Faso will contribute to supporting small farmers, pastoralist communities and people living with HIV & AIDS to access basic services and to defend their rights at national and regional level. Commitments and ownership by communities themselves to sustain their own facilities ensures that our programmes have a lasting impact on their livelihoods and their development.

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